


The First Step

by llaras



Category: Firefly
Genre: F/M, courting gifts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-07
Updated: 2015-09-07
Packaged: 2018-04-19 16:22:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4752986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/llaras/pseuds/llaras
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wash tries to find the perfect gift for Zoe.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The First Step

**Author's Note:**

> Written at the request of one of my lj fairies who asked for Wash/Zoe. :-) Muchas gracias to my excellent beta, [](http://finitejester37.livejournal.com/profile)[finitejester37](http://finitejester37.livejournal.com/). Any mistakes are mine.

**The First Step**

Wash found the volume of poetry on his chair when he came into the cockpit to do his pre-flight check. He turned it over in his hands and sighed in dismay.

"Zoe ain't like other women."

He turned to find Mal in the doorway.

"I know that," he answered back irritably.

"You can't win her over with fripperies like poetry or flowers or candy."

"I'm getting that impression." He sank wearily into his seat and started to enter different coordinates, searching for a route that would get them to their next stop on the least amount of fuel. Paying jobs were scarce and they were getting short on credits.

"Though those chocolates sure were good, you almost got _me_ with them." Mal went back down the stairs, chuckling all the way.

But Wash wasn't laughing. And he sure as hell wasn't giving up. She wasn't impressed with his flying skills. He was pretty sure she expected him to do well, as it was his job. That's just the way she saw things. She didn't laugh at his jokes either. That was a new one. In his experience, that almost always worked. There had to be something that would make that woman smile.

*******

After their next job he found himself on a shopping expedition with Mal and Zoe, stocking up on the basics. Mal had managed to haggle the shopkeeper down on most of the prices, enough so that there was just enough left over to purchase a tin of tea. The burly man behind the counter tried to interest Mal in the fresh shipment of Blue Mountain coffee beans that he'd just gotten in, but Mal took one look at the price tag and grimaced. "Tea will do. Wrap that up for us, will you?" He handed over all of their hard-earned credits and walked over to Wash. "We're heading over to the saloon for a meeting with a potential client. Take this back to the ship. And if you see Jayne, tell him to get his ass over there."

"Sure, no problem." Wash put down the figurine he was holding.

"Puppies?" Mal scowled. "Wash, I thought you were an intelligent man."

Wash glanced over to where Zoe was standing. She wasn't even looking in their direction.

"I know!" He threw his hands up in the air. "I just..."

"She's a practical woman. Maybe you should consider some ammo." Mal paused and considered. "Or a knife."

Wash looked over to where Zoe was again, expecting to see her standing there, arms crossed, with that _look_ on her face. The one that gave nothing away.

But she wasn't there anymore. She was standing over by the coffee.

"I'm not buying weapons for the woman I love," he hissed.

She was holding one of the sacks of coffee, turning it over in her hands in a considering way.

"You what?" Mal was barely able to not shout that out.

She was smelling the coffee. And smiling.

"The woman I could potentially fall in love with, should she ever bother to notice I exist." Wash amended. He was too distracted to notice the shocked look on Mal's face. She had smiled!

Mal noticed the dazed expression on Wash's face and sighed. The man would learn eventually. He patted him on the shoulder. "Just trust me on this one. No puppy dog statues, okay?"

"Yeah, sure." Wash was too busy trying to figure out how many credits he could get his hands on before they had to leave.

Mal collected Zoe by the door and yelled back to Wash, "And don't forget what I said about Jayne!"

"Yeah, sure," Wash murmured.

*******

The next morning Wash woke early, but he was too nervous to get up. Somehow he was sure that he would find that sack of coffee sitting right where all of his other rejected gifts had been left. And he wasn't ready to fail again. This had to work!

He decided to head down to the mess first, get some tea to settle his stomach before facing the inevitable. He heard Jayne before he got down there.

"Aw, Zoe, c'mon."

"Not gonna happen, Jayne."

Wash walked in to find Zoe sitting at the table, sipping from a mug and staring straight ahead, with Jayne doing his best to get her attention.

"Why not?" he whined.

She caught sight of Wash then. "Because it's mine." And then she winked at Wash. A wink was much better than a smile! Wash tried his best not to jump and shout in glee.

"You don't deserve any gorram coffee, Jayne. Where the hell were you yesterday?" Mal came in and sat down at the table, reaching for the carafe of freshly-brewed coffee.

And got his hand slapped. He looked up with a wounded expression at Zoe.

"I _said_ it's mine," she growled.

Jayne mumbled something, obviously not wanting to explain where he'd been the day before. Wash was pretty sure it involved whorehouses. It usually did. He tried to hide the stupid grin that was pasted across his face as he reached into the cupboard for the tin of tea, but it was really difficult. She liked his gift!

Suddenly there was a hand on his shoulder. "Here, I saved you some." And Zoe pressed a warm mug of coffee into his hands. She smelled like heaven. He couldn't speak.

"Hey!" Jayne shouted. But Mal just looked confused.

"Don't think this means anything," she whispered in his ear. "I just really like coffee." And then she was gone.

Wash turned to Jayne and Mal, his face schooled to absolute stillness. He casually took a sip. "So, what's on the agenda for today?"


End file.
